PIERRE BENSUSAN’S 3-CD RETROSPECTIVE COLLECTION ‘ENCORE’ WINS THE “LIVE PERFORMANCE ALBUM” CATEGORY AT THE 2014 INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS
World-renowned as the “Mozart of Guitar” for his 40-plus years of live performances and critically-acclaimed recordings, Pierre Bensusan(www.pierrebensusan.com) has received yet another accolade for Encore, an ambitious and expansive retrospective collection celebrating his 40 years as a globetrotting concert performer.
The 3-CD set won in the Live Performance Album category at the 2014 Independent Music Awards.
The set was nominated early in the year and through votes from the listening public, Benusan has been awarded the prize of “Vox Pop Winner,” receiving more votes for Encore than any other artist in any other category.
The Independent Music Awards (IMAs) is an international program that honors top ranked independent artists and releases in more than 80 Album, Song, EP, Producer, Music Video and Design categories. The IMAs were created in 1999 by Music Resource Group (MRG). The program receives submissions from previous major-label artists as well as self-released and indie label talent from more than 70 countries on six continents.
In a statement, Martin Folkman, Director, The Independent Music Awards, said, “On behalf of The Independent Music Awards and passionate music fans everywhere, it is our pleasure to congratulate Pierre Bensusan on winning in the Live Performance Album category for Encore in The IMA 13 Vox Pop poll, the fan-determined portion of The IMAs.
Your nominated work was up against some of the year’s best independent artists and releases. It’s a great honor to support such exceptional talent.”
Bensusan said, “I am humbled and thrilled by this honor. I see it as a positive, encouraging statement, a little light of recognition that contents the heart and can be the drive for more music creation to come!”
Bensusan recently wrapped a 55-date North American and European 40thAnniversary tour, which doubled as a celebration of a dynamic 35-year association with his longtime guitar maker Lowden Guitars(www.georgelowden.com).
Upcoming, the guitarist will be performing August 30 at the La Finestra Sul Lago Festival in Italy, September 6 at the International Guitar Night in Koblenz, Germany and October 3 at the Ards Guitar Festival in Ireland before launching a fall tour in Germany and Switzerland.
###
The “Mozart of Guitar” Pierre Bensusan (www.pierrebensusan.com), who celebrates 40 years of live performances and critically-acclaimed recordings with his three CD set Encore, has received a “Best CDs of 2013’ nomination by the Indie Acoustic Project.
The Indie Acoustic Project awards was created to generate increased awareness of indie artists and record companies by promoting and recognizing outstanding works of innovative, independently produced acoustic music from around the world, and to provide a means of helping the artists to reach a wider audience.
The three finalists in each of eight categories were selected from the multitudes of CDs that were considered for the awards.
An ambitious and expansive retrospective collection marking his 40 years as a globetrotting concert performer, Encore was also recently nominated for best Live Performance Album in the 13th Annual Independent Music Awards in the U.S.
The Independent Music Awards (IMAs) is an international program that honors top ranked independent artists and releases in more than 80 Album, Song, EP, Producer, Music Video and Design categories. Voting is open to the public via the following link: http://www.independentmusicawards.com/imanominee/13th/Album/Live-Performances
Bensusan recently kicked off his 55-date North American and European 40th Anniversary tour. The tour’s North American leg (which includes numerous U.S. dates and an April 27 stop at Church of Saint Stephens in the Field in Toronto) runs through early May. Bensusan is then scheduled to perform six dates in Germany and two in Austria before returning to Canada May 26 to play the Festival des Guitars du Monde, Rouyn-Noranda (QC). After a June 9 date at the Jersey Arts Center, he launches 11 dates in the UK (England and Scotland) before wrapping the tour with two shows June 26 and 28 in Ireland.
The tour will also be a celebration of a dynamic 35-year association with his longtime guitar maker Lowden Guitars (www.georgelowden.com).
Encore has garnered lots of attention from the media. GuitarPlayer.com’s Barry Cleveland recently profiled Bensuasn and said, “…like a fine Bordeaux wine from an outstanding vintage, his artistry has only increased in depth and complexity as he has matured.
In Acoustic Guitar magazine’s (www.acousticguitar.com) recent feature article on Bensusan and Encore, Doug Young writes: “Bensusan has become known as one of the world’s premier fingerstyle guitarists, combining dazzling technique with complex and adventurous compositions that incorporate elements of jazz, folk and Celtic music as well as more exotic elements from his French-Algerian heritage…His eclectic, distinctive style has greatly influenced several generations of fingerstyle guitarists, but at the same time, his tone, phrasing and melodic approach remain unmistakably unique.”
In Premier Guitar Magazine (www.premierguitar.com), Teja Gerken called Encore a “stunning overview of Bensusan’s career…an amazing 40 year retrospective that sounds great (thanks to Grammy-winning engineer Rich Breen) and serves as an excellent introduction to Bensusan’s work.”
Music Morsels Reviews (musicmorsels.wordpress.com) wrote: “One of the most highly respected acoustic guitarists around, Pierre Bensusan rooted through his collection of live recordings over a span of several years to come up with this thirty five song career introspective that will no doubt be highly coveted by loyal fans as well as a great entry level collection for those who are curious. This is Pierre at his simple best, picking and plucking his classics in brilliant fashion…For those who don’t know him but are fans of instrumental acoustic guitar music, dive right in. If this does not make you an instant fan, nothing will.”
Last month, Bensusan was featured on the cover of Akustik Gitarre magazine in Germany. A feature on Bensusan also appeared in the February 2014 issue of Vintage Guitar Magazine (USA) and Chitarra Magazine (Italy).
For the latest news and tour dates, please visit www.pierrebensusan.com
Remaining U.S. Tour Dates:
APRIL 10 – Jammin’ Java – Vienna, VA
APRIL 11 – The Music Barn at Sotir Farm – Phoenix, MD
APRIL 12 – Godfrey Daniel’s – Bethlehem, PA
APRIL 13 – Tupelo Music Hall – Londonderry NH
APRIL 15 – The Irridium Jazz Club – New York, NY
APRIL 18 – Next Stage Arts Project – Putney, VT
APRIL 19 – One Longfellow Square – Portland, ME
APRIL 22 – Music Emporium – Lexington, MA
APRIL 23 – Club Passim – Cambridge, MA
APRIL 24 – Cadyville Concert Hall – Cadyville, NY
APRIL 25 – Michael Greenfield’s Guitar Workshop – Montreal, Canada
APRIL 26 – Caffe Lena – Saratoga Springs, NY
APRIL 28 – The Ark – Ann Arbor, MI
APRIL 29 – Natalie’s Coal-Fired Pizza – Worthington, OH
MAY 1 – Legion Arts – Cedar Rapids, IA
MAY 9 – Sutter Creek Theatre – Sacramento, CA
MAY 10 – Castoro Cellars – Templeton, CA
MAY 26 – Festival des Guitars du Monde, QC Canada
###
]]>
PIERRE BENSUSAN’S 3-CD RETROSPECTIVE
COLLECTION ‘ENCORE’ RECEIVES ‘BEST
LIVE PERFORMANCE’ NOMINATION IN THE 13TH
ANNUAL INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS
The Renowned Contemporary World Music Guitarist
Launched His Three And a Half Month, 55-Date North American
And European Tour Saturday, March 15 at McCabe’s in Santa Monica
World renowned as the “Mozart of Guitar” for his 40-plus years of live performances and critically-acclaimed recordings, Pierre Bensusan (www.pierrebensusan.com) has received yet another accolade for Encore- an ambitious and expansive retrospective collection celebrating his 40 years as a globetrotting concert performer.
The 3-CD set is nominated for best Live Performance Album in the 13th Annual Independent Music Awards in the U.S.
The Independent Music Awards (IMAs) is an international program that honors top ranked independent artists and releases in more than 80 Album, Song, EP, Producer, Music Video and Design categories. The IMAs were created in 1999 by Music Resource Group (MRG). The program receives submissions from previous major-label artists as well as self-released and indie label talent from more than 70 countries on six continents.
There are two parts to The Independent Music Awards: The general voting process determined by the industry and artist judging panel. Second is the Vox Populi “voice of the people” process where fans and visitors determine the winners by rating the nominees at The Vox Populi Jukebox. Voting is open to the public via the following link: http://www.independentmusicawards.com/imanominee/13th/Album/Live-Performances
Joining Bensusan in his category are Giancarlo Mazzu & Luciano Troja (Live at the Metropolitan Room NYC), Taj Weekes & Adowa (Pariah in Transit), Volodja Balzalorsky (Romantic Violin Sonatas: Live Selection, Vol. 1, Franck, Brahms, Grieg) and Wertico Cain and Gray (Sound Portraits).
Bensusan just kicked off his 55-date North American and European 40th Anniversary tour on Saturday, March 15 at McCabe’s in Santa Monica. The tour’s North American leg (which includes numerous U.S. dates and an April 27 stop at Church of Saint Stephens in the Field in Toronto) runs through early May. Bensusan is then scheduled to perform six dates in Germany and two in Austria before returning to Canada May 26 to play the Festival des Guitars du Monde, Rouyn-Noranda (QC). After a June 9 date at the Jersey Arts Center, he launches 11 dates in the UK (England and Scotland) before wrapping the tour with two shows June 26 and 28 in Ireland.
The tour will also be a celebration of a dynamic 35-year association with his longtime guitar maker Lowden Guitars (www.georgelowden.com).
In Acoustic Guitar magazine’s (www.acousticguitar.com) recent feature article on Bensusan and Encore, Doug Young writes: “Bensusan has become known as one of the world’s premier fingerstyle guitarists, combining dazzling technique with complex and adventurous compositions that incorporate elements of jazz, folk and Celtic music as well as more exotic elements from his French-Algerian heritage…His eclectic, distinctive style has greatly influenced several generations of fingerstyle guitarists, but at the same time, his tone, phrasing and melodic approach remain unmistakably unique.”
In Premier Guitar Magazine (www.premierguitar.com), Teja Gerken called Encore a “stunning overview of Bensusan’s career…an amazing 40 year retrospective that sounds great (thanks to Grammy-winning engineer Rich Breen) and serves as an excellent introduction to Bensusan’s work.”
Music Morsels Reviews (musicmorsels.wordpress.com) wrote: “One of the most highly respected acoustic guitarists around, Pierre Bensusan rooted through his collection of live recordings over a span of several years to come up with this thirty five song career introspective that will no doubt be highly coveted by loyal fans as well as a great entry level collection for those who are curious. This is Pierre at his simple best, picking and plucking his classics in brilliant fashion…For those who don’t know him but are fans of instrumental acoustic guitar music, dive right in. If this does not make you an instant fan, nothing will.”
Last month, Bensusan was featured on the cover of Akustik Gitarre magazine in Germany. A feature on Bensusan also appeared in the February 2014 issue of Vintage Guitar Magazine (USA) and Chitarra Magazine (Italy).
For the latest news and tour dates, please visit www.pierrebensusan.com
U.S. Tour Dates:
MARCH 15 – McCabe’s – Santa Monica, CA
MARCH 16 – Club Fox – Redwood City, CA
MARCH 17 – Paschal Winery – Talent, OR
MARCH 18 – Alberta Rose – Portland, OR
MARCH 19 – The Royal Room, Seattle
MARCH 20 – Chateau Rive At The Flour Mill – Spokane, WA
MARCH 23 – Stargazers Theatre – Colorado Springs,CO
APRIL 3 – Barking Legs Theater – Chattanooga, TN
APRIL 4 – Eddie’s Attic – Decatur, GA
]]>PIERRE BENSUSAN’S ‘ENCORE’ RETROSPECTIVE
RECEIVES HIGH PRAISES FROM TOP MUSIC
AND GUITAR MAGAZINES
The Contemporary World Music Guitarist’s 3-CD,
35-Track Set—Which Features Live Performances
Spanning His Entire 40 Year Career—Receives Accolades
From Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Premier Guitar Magazine
And Others
After 40 years of live performances and recordings, Pierre Bensusan, world renowned as the “Mozart of Guitar,” is enjoying his latest round of exciting accolades for Encore, an ambitious and expansive retrospective collection celebrating his 40 years as a globetrotting concert performer.
In Acoustic Guitar magazine’s (www.acousticguitar.com) recent feature article on Bensusan and his 3-CD, 35-track collection of career spanning live performances, Doug Young writes: “Bensusan has become known as one of the world’s premier fingerstyle guitarists, combining dazzling technique with complex and adventurous compositions that incorporate elements of jazz, folk and Celtic music as well as more exotic elements from his French-Algerian heritage…His eclectic, distinctive style has greatly influenced several generations of fingerstyle guitarists, but at the same time, his tone, phrasing and melodic approach remain unmistakably unique.”
In Premier Guitar Magazine (www.premierguitar.com), Teja Gerken called Encore a “stunning overview of Bensusan’s career…an amazing 40 year retrospective that sounds great (thanks to Grammy-winning engineer Rich Breen) and serves as an excellent introduction to Bensusan’s work.”
Music Morsels Reviews (musicmorsels.wordpress.com) wrote: “One of the most highly respected acoustic guitarists around, Pierre Bunsusan rooted through his collection of live recordings over a span of several years to come up with this thirty five song career introspective that will no doubt be highly coveted by loyal fans as well as a great entry level collection for those who are curious. This is Pierre at his simple best, picking and plucking his classics in brilliant fashion…For those who don’t know him but are fans of instrumental acoustic guitar music, dive right in. If this does not make you an instant fan, nothing will.”
Bensusan has an upcoming feature in Vintage Guitar Magazine’s February 2014 issue.
The guitarist’s highly anticipated upcoming 40th Anniversary Tour of Europe and North America will also be a celebration of a dynamic 35-year association with his longtime guitar maker Lowden Guitars (www.georgelowden.com).
The contemporary world music and master fingerstyle guitarist (www.pierrebensusan.com) and the Ireland-based manufacturer have announced that Lowden Guitars will be sponsoring the tour, which begins with 22 dates Bensusan’s home country of France from January to March 2013 (starting with 6 shows in Paris, Jan 30 to Feb. 8) and includes about 40 dates in the U.S. and Canada (beginning March 15, 2013 in Santa Monica, Calif.), stops in Montreal (April 25) and wraps with Northern Calif. (May 10) and then play about 25 shows in Germany, Austria, France, U.K. & Ireland.
A promotional video about how Encore came about is now available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El0gS6dXr1k&feature=youtu.be.
###
]]>
AFTER MORE THAN 3,000 CONCERTS ACROSS THE GLOBE,
CONTEMPORARY WORLD MUSIC GUITARIST AND
RECORDING ARTIST PIERRE BENSUSAN CELEBRATES 40 YEARS
AS A LIVE PERFORMER WITH ENCORE,
A 3-CD, 35-TRACK JOURNEY OF LIVE PERFORMANCES SPANNING
HIS ENTIRE CAREER AND SHOWCASING HIS
RISK-TAKING, IN-THE-MOMENT STYLE, AND A 40TH ANNIVERSARY LOWDEN
SIGNATURE MODEL GUITAR
Guitar Player Magazine’s 2008 “Best World Music Guitar Player”
Includes 11 Previously Unreleased Tracks—Including Two With
Dream Theater Keyboardist Jordan Rudess and Five Songs
from Bensusan’s Early Bluegrass Years (1975)
with Banjo Great Bill Keith
Back in 1974, Pierre Bensusan (www.pierrebensusan.com) was cutting his teeth as a performer on the folk scene in Paris and other cities in France when one of his idols, banjo great Bill Keith, offered him his first official paying gig ever touring Western Europe with his bluegrass band. The French-Algerian upstart, humbly launching a four decade career which would earn him worldwide renown as the “Mozart of Guitar,” was hired to play mandolin. But when Keith heard his groundbreaking approach to the acoustic guitar, he decided to allow Bensusan a few key spotlights on that instrument.
Decades later, when Bensusan was looking for potential finishing touches for Encore, his ambitious and expansive retrospective collection celebrating 40 years as a globetrotting live performer, he discovered a reel to reel tape with a Swiss National Radio recording of a concert in Lausanne from that tour. While the tireless troubadour’s original plan for the 3-CD set was to include tracks recorded between 1998 and 2013 in France, Canada, Ireland, Austria and especially the U.S. (where he regularly records), Bensusan decided to round out the 35-track set by starting “Disc 2” with a set of five titles from this show, including two bluegrass songs.
Engineered in Los Angeles by two-time Grammy nominee Rich Breen, Encore also includes a handful of songs featuring Bensusan’s beautiful French language vocals (“Cordilliere” and “Pas Sage,” among others) and wordless vocalese (“Bamboul’hiver”); two cuts with future Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess from a commissioned 1998 concert in Northern France that included a 200-piece children’s choir (including the previously unreleased “Anthem For The Ocean”); and the 18-minute setpiece “Celtic Medley.” In all, Encore features 11 tracks never previously released commercially in any form.
These five mid-‘70s songs not only give fans a chance to hear Bensusan perform in a style that is unique from all his other solo work, but also an opportunity to hear the multiple open tunings approach he took earlier in his career. In 1978, he began using his trademark DADGAD (also known as D-modal or Celtic) tuning, which is accomplished by tuning the first, second and sixth strings down a whole tone (two and a half steps). Over the past 35 years, Bensusan has been widely recognized as the world master of this type of tuning.
The 2014 release by Bensusan’s own label Dadgad Music fills a unique gap in the multi-talented performer’s discography, which dates back to his 1975 debut album Pres de Paris and in recent years includes Intuite (the American Association of Independent Music’s “Best Acoustic Album of 2002”) and his most recent studio recording Vividly (2010).
Thousands of his fans own these recordings but anyone who has experienced him in concert knows that the guitarist’s greatest range of expression and vast emotional depth comes in the joyful and spontaneous, risk taking moments during his live performances. And that some of his greatest studio work originated during onstage bursts of spontaneous improvisation. Despite headlining over 3000 shows throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa since the mid-‘70s, his only live performance releases have been a DVD of a live concert in San Francisco in 1996 and a dual CD of a concert in Paris with French woodwind player Didier Malherbe, Live in Paris (1997).
“I think the energy of that album with Didier is amazing, because we toured extensively together, but over the years, as people coming to my shows asked about a live recording, I had to tell them I didn’t have any on my own,” says Bensusan, chosen Guitar Player Magazine’s 2008 “Best World Music Guitar Player.” “It was always something I knew I would do one day. My manager in France thought we should do something special for fans to commemorate my 40 years on the road. After all, while I am also a recording artist, I am known as a touring musician and most of my professional activities involve performing live. As the concept took shape, my desire was to present myself in the context of my ‘real’ life, on the road, because the proximity of the public, the pleasure, the urgency, the risk-taking, the ‘danger’ but also the joy of sharing the moment yield unique emotional states.”
Following up on his manager’s exciting idea, Bensusan at first had no idea if there were enough good quality live recordings to fill a single CD, let alone more. As he dug through the random tapes that he had accumulated, he discovered that out of those more than 3000 shows, only 50-60 had been recorded. One of the greatest treasure troves proved to be concerts recorded by local radio from his many visits over the years to The Prism Club in Charlottesville, Va. from 1999-2005, and a full one fourth of the tracks on Encore come from those performances.
Guided by his notion that any tracks he chose to include had to have stood the test of time, he was pleased that while not every performance was to his liking, there were more than enough strong shows to fill a single CD – and another and finally, another.
“Over the years I had collected dozens of recordings I had mostly never listened to,” he says. “What you have on Encore is a selection of these particular moments from various shows and different time periods,” Bensusan continues. “Our choices were far from haphazard. We had to try to make the flow make sense in terms of music and times and sounds. I was lucky to work with the extraordinary Rich Breen in L.A., whose work I admire includes engineering projects for Herbie Hancock, Yellowjackets and Oregon. “He brought a necessary beautiful musical attitude to the project. We were dealing with different times and acoustics, and we didn’t want to touch the basic musical elements that made those performances a unique snapshot of their time. At the end of the day, as you listen to the three CDs straight through, everything comes together wonderfully and makes perfect sense.”
The final tracking, Bensusan says, was not designed in a specific chronological sequence, but in such a way as to make listeners feel they are on an emotional journey with him. “I want people to feel not as though they are at any one of the concerts these tracks are from but basically in an intimate living room setting, allowing me to take them to different musical places,” he explains. “It starts in a quieter place and then evolves pretty quickly into a high energy affair. I would say that Encore is probably my most truthful recording ever, because the studio is not always a very dangerous place. You can stop and start again and the intimacy there is just between the artist and the music. Onstage, however, there is an urgency and a context I adapt to and I get to take people along as I take chances and have the opportunity to bring the music to place it’s never been before. These are moments in time reflecting ways of approaching these songs that I never did before and never did again.”
Bensusan’s lifelong friend and collaborator, master luthier George Lowden, has also begun work on a special 40th Anniversary Bensusan signature model guitar which is due for release in January 2014. The signature guitar celebrates both Pierre and George’s 40th career anniversaries, a span of time over which Pierre has taken his trusty Lowden guitar (loving referred to as his ‘old lady’) to all the corners of the globe. His ‘old lady’ was put into retirement in early 2000 when Pierre’s new signature model was built, a model which went on to become Lowden’s best-selling signature guitar.
Lowden guitars will be teaming up to support Pierre’s 40th Anniversary World tour, covering Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Paris, London, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, North America and Europe (Germany, England and Ireland) before a fall 2014 jaunt that takes him to numerous Asian markets, including China, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan.
“This is really a wonderful way to go through life, traveling different places and connecting with and bringing joy to fans in various cultures,” he says. “I have always been so grateful for the support of my fans, and Encore is really for them, to share special moments from my past even as I am out there creating new ones and hopefully gaining new fans along the way. To me, Encore shows that I have spent many years maturing and evolving as a composer and guitarist, but it’s clear to me, now more than ever before, that my best work is still ahead of me.”
]]>
* * *
The French-Algerian Instrumentalist, Who Won Guitar
Player Magazine Reader’s Choice Award as the “Best
World Music Guitar Player” in 2008 is Trotting
the Globe on his 2012 World Tour
Nearly 15 months after his last stateside visit, Pierre Bensusan heads back to the U.S. for a highly-anticipated tour, starting at the Nightcat in Easton, MD. May 9. Over the course of his summer jaunt, the French-Algerian artist globally known as the “Mozart of Guitar”—who released his most recent album, Vividly, in late 2010—will perform in venues throughout the Mid-Atlantic, South, West Coast, Northwest, Midwest and Northeast.
In addition to the U.S. shows, Bensusan will also be performing at the Montreal Jazz Festival on April 27, Capilano University in North Vancouver, British Columbia June 27, Salon de Lutherie on June 30, and the Trinity St. Paul’s United Church in Toronto on July 8.
Bensusan’s U.S. dates are part of an extensive seven month global tour that began with four March dates at the Portfairy Festival in Portfairy, Australia and includes a total of 17 dates in Australia, three in China and numerous shows in France, Germany, Austria, Ireland and the UK.
Vividly, a multi-cultural, melodic instrumental and vocal album, marked Bensusan’s 35th year as a recording artist—a span that includes such accolades as Guitar Player Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award as the “Best World Music Guitar Player” (2008) and the American Association of Independent Music’s “Best Acoustic Album of 2002” for Intuite.
The music on the album reflects a spirit of jubilation. “My hope is always to create music that becomes part of the fabric of people’s lives,” says the guitarist. “It’s there for your enjoyment and it won’t disturb you, but if you do stop and pay closer attention, you might be magically roped into something you could not have imagined.”
One of the key people that Bensusan and Vividly have emotionally lassoed is three-time Grammy Award winner and master guitarist Steve Vai, who has worked with fellow electric guitar monsters like Frank Zappa and Joe Satriani and also toured with Ozzy Osbourne. Vividly was released in the U.S. and Canada on Vai’s label Favored Nations.
Another iconic guitarist who played with Osbourne, along with Quiet Riot, was the late Randy Rhoads; an upcoming DVD “Randy Rhoads: The Quiet Riot Years” will feature Bensusan’s song “Hymn 11” from his Altiplatos album. The video–a companion piece to the book “Crazy Train: The High Life And Tragic Death Of Randy Rhoads”–highlights the life of the guitar master who died in a plane crash in 1982. The DVD will be available for preorder April 1 on www.guitarworld.com.
Fans can visit the redesigned website for the latest tour information and more at www.pierrebensusan.com.
Upcoming Shows: (more shows to be announced)
May 9, 2012 Easton, MD Nightcat
May 10, 2012 Staunton, VA Mockingbird
May 11, 2012 Charlotte, NC Evening Muse
May 12, 2012 Asheville, NC The Altamont Theatre
May 12, 2012 Decatur, GA Eddie’s Attic
May 17, 2012 Chattanooga, TN Barking Legs Theater
May 18, 2012 Jackson, MS Duling Hall
May 20, 2012 Birmingham, AL The Virginia Samford Theatre
May 23, 2012 Takoma Park, MD Institute of Musical Traditions
May 24, 2012 Felton, CA Don Quixote’s
May 25, 2012 Tiburon, CA Schoenberg Guitars
May 26, 2012 Berkeley, CA Freight & Salvage
May 30, 2012 Ashland, OR Old Siskiyou Barn
May 31, 2012 Portland, OR Alberta Rose Theatre
June 1, 2012 Everett, WA Accent on Music at The Anchor Pub
June 2, 2012 Seattle, WA Dusty Strings Music Workshop
June 3, 2012 Spokane, WA Lindaman’s
June 5, 2012 Napa, CA Napa Valley Opera House
June 9, 2012 Cottonwood, AZ Old Town Center For The Arts
June 10, 2012 Scottsdale, AZ First Baptist Church of Scottsdale
June 11, 2012 Santa Barbara, CA Soho Music Club
June 15-17, 2012 Pomeroy, OH Fur Peach Ranch, 3 days Guitar (Seminar)
June 21, 2012 Piedmont, NY The Turning Point
June 22, 2012 Fall River, MA Narrows Center for the Arts
June 24, 2012 Cambridge, MA Club Passim
June 27, 2012 North Vancouver, Canada Capilano University
June 30, 2012 Cadyville, NY Cadyville Concert Hall
July 1, 2012 Saratoga Springs, NY Caffe Lena
July 8, 2012 Toronto, Canada Trinity St. Paul’s United Church
]]>***
Playing Regularly Throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia,
Guitar Player Magazine’s 2008
“Best World Music Guitar Player”
Returns To The U.S. For A Multiple-DateTour In Winter 2011
Pierre Bensusan’s debut album Près de Paris, released 35 years ago, launched one of contemporary world music’s most extraordinary, multi-faceted careers for an instrumental guitarist. Bensusan, a French-Algerian artist globally known as the “Mozart of Guitar,” is still conquering the world with his renowned melodic and rhythmic strings, while touring regularly throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.
Two years after winning Guitar Player Magazine Reader’s Choice Award as the “Best World Music Guitar Player”—and eight years after Bensusan’s album Intuite won the American Association of Independent Music’s “Best Acoustic Album of 2002”—the guitarist celebrates an incredible three and a half decades with an album whose title perfectly reflects his gratitude and deeply intuitive approach to life and music—Vividly.
While he’s happy to explain that the English word derives from the French word “vivid,” meaning the inner life of things you don’t always see but you can feel, the title track was named for Pat Milliken, his late road manager in California, who would use that term regularly to describe moments of intense joy while traveling from gig to gig. “He also used words like ‘epic’ and ‘good times,’ little phrases that spoke of jubilation,” Bensusan says.
“The music on Vividly, both the instrumentals and vocals, reflect that jubilation. “My hope is always to create music that becomes part of the fabric of people’s lives and ultimately a great companion for their lives. I never tell people to stop everything and listen. It’s there for your enjoyment and it won’t disturb you, but if you do stop and pay closer attention, you might be magically roped into something you could not have imagined.”
One of the key people that Bensusan and Vividly have emotionally lassoed is three-time Grammy Award winner and master guitarist Steve Vai, who has worked with fellow electric guitar monsters like Frank Zappa and Joe Satriani and also toured with Ozzy Osbourne, finds Bensusan’s acoustic style equally irresistible. Vividly will be released in the U.S. and Canada on Vai’s label Favored Nations.
“Listening to Pierre play the guitar is like floating on a mountain lake with the light of the full moon softly glimmering on the ripples,” Vai says. “It’s always been the goal of Favored Nations to create a home for artists that are independent in their career, confident in their work and inspired with their vision. Pierre has always been all of that and more.”
Bensusan’s legion of fans in the U.S. will get to share that dreamily rhythmic, “floating” experience early in 2011, when the guitarist returns for a 9-week Stateside tour beginning in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. on January 16 at Caffe’ Lena and showcasing at Passim in Cambridge, Mass. outside of Boston on January 19. The guitarist heads to Portland, Maine on January 20 for a special performance in One Longfellow Square and travels south to Islamorada, Fla. to perform at the TIB Amphitheater on February 3. Bensusan then moves west with two early February shows at McCabe’s in Santa Monica (Feb. 6). His itinerary includes numerous stops in California, including Soho Restaurant and Music Club in Santa Barbara, Calif. (Feb. 9), Coalesce Bookstore in Los Osos, Calif. (Feb. 11), Castoro Cellars in Templeton, Calif. (Feb. 12), Coolwater Concerts in Ahwahnee, Calif. (Feb. 13), Don Quixote’s Int’l Music Hall in Felton, Calif. (Feb. 16) and Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, Calif. (Feb. 17). Continuing on at Waters Cultural Center in Hillsboro, Ore. (Feb. 19), Dosie Doe in Woodlands, Texas (March 3), Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, Ga. (March 6), parts of the South, and will wrap up in the Great Lakes region ending with a performance and workshop at the Michigan Fingerstyle Guitar Society in Ferndale, Michigan (March 11 and 12).
Bensusan is always pleased to appear at events that celebrate fingerstyle guitarists—yet he has never liked stylistic labels for himself that limit the possibilities and appeal of his multi-faceted music. Still, he says, all the musical magic that he’s created over the years begins in his fingers, which are always receptive to his ongoing musical inspiration. Over the years, this has led to fascinating recording endeavors exploring the worlds of American bluegrass and folk music, Celtic music and North African rhythms.
“I love touring because sometimes even when I’m onstage, new ideas come to my fingers and I begin feeling new ways to feel the piece of music,” he says. “The music on the new album blends a little jazz and a little folk mixed together like a painting that incorporates elements of many things. When the muse hits, I always want to be putting my fingers where it makes sense, not simply where it is most comfortable. The instrument takes me many places and I have to stay vigilant to make sure that every note is originating from a place of genuine musical intention. The music takes on a life of its own, and I have to be ready when it speaks up. Then I incubate that moment and let the music marinate for a long time before committing it to a recording. I love that moment where everything comes together all in my imagination, like a silent movie playing that is both vivid and brilliant.”
The liner notes to Vividly, which was recorded in Bensusan’s countryside home studio near Chateau-Thierry, an hour east of Paris, perfectly express the beautiful and wide range of musical emotions that Bensusan taps into each song, many of which he says had been “incubating” for a remarkable 25 years: “Vividly gives voice to all facets of a vast world, one of emotion without artifice, a serene world – flowing and ample – which aptly reflects the universe of an artist in constant evolution.”
The artistic core of Vividly is Bensusan’s series of thoughtful, rhythmic guitar instrumentals, including the title track, “Kiss Landing,” “Veilleuse (Night Light),” “Pirogue,” “Coup dans l’Eau,” and “Astres & Gnomes,” all of which are lush yet intimate expressions in which pure emotion craftily disguises the guitarist’s rich virtuosity. The title “Dagdad Café” is more than a play on the renowned independent film “Bagdad Café”—it’s a reference to his traditional use of DADGAD (also known as D-modal or Celtic) tuning, which is accomplished by tuning the first, second and sixth strings down a whole tone (two and a half steps). Bensusan is the renowned world master of this tuning. Two tracks feature the exotic touch of the erhu, a Chinese violin, played by Gan Guo, master of the instrument: the love song “The In Between” about the evolution of a romantic relationship (sung by Bensusan in English) and “La Blanche Biche,” whose title refers to a Celtic myth about a woman turning into a deer at night.
Bensusan explores his vocal passions more than ever on Vividly, giving the album a new dynamic, with heartfelt and often whimsical results. “Le Chien Qui Tourne” is a fun little yarn about the way his dog keeps turning around and around. “Pas Sage” (The Wise Step) is a unique reflection on the transformation in music, giving the track a very reminiscent style of a tango. “La Java Du Concessionaire” weaves in music from his “Musette” heritage, the Paris accordion music that his father’s generation listened to and which Bensusan grew up with. The song entails an exaggerated story about a misfortune with a car breakdown.
Bensusan describes Vividly’s concluding masterpiece “Les Places De Liberte” as “a song about freedom, tolerance, immigration, integration, humanity and brave people and the situation of women in the world.” It is a call to remind the world what France has always stood for, welcoming others and opening the values of freedom and tolerance to the world, allowing equal opportunity for all. He dedicates the song to the Algerian writer Djemila Benhabib, a brave woman who has spoken out for the cause of women in the oppressive Arabic culture.
Many of the songs on Vividly were penned by Bensusan’s wife and co-producer Doatea Cornu Bensusan. The most fully produced track on the album features renowned Malian vocalist Mah Damba, the “Golden Voice of Mali”, an upright bass, percussion textures, trumpet and flugelhorn, and several other singers.
“The title of the song in English is ‘Freedom Squares,’ and that means all markers of revolutions that lead to freedom in different countries,” the guitarist says. “My wife wanted to use that metaphor to talk about immigration, racism, xenophobia and women in the world. We were also inspired by the plight of Bulgarian & Romanian gypsies who were sent back into an extremist climate after trying to escape to freedom. It’s a very powerful song for the times we are living in, with an anthem-like refrain. I’m not a political singer by nature. I’m an entertainer, but there are certain things as an artist that I cannot ignore.”
Mah was more than touched by that song as it exactly reflects her family’s situation. Mah sings in her native tongue. It was Bensusan’s desire for her to sing a capella the last note of the album.
“As with every track on Vividly and those I have recorded throughout my career,” Bensusan adds, “I simply want to touch people through music and put them in the right place to better appreciate the beauty of life, even in times of strife. A lot of guitarists and guitar students like to focus on my technique, and I appreciate that, but I never set out to prove anything in that area. At heart, I am a storyteller who likes to take chances and surprise people. I work with tensions and contrasts, space movements and different arrangements of notes, but what’s most important is putting people in a frame of mind that allows them to take a step back from the day to day and feel better about their lives.”
]]>